Wisher — Wisher

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Wisher is a series of French comic strips of the urban fantasy genre created by Sébastien Latour (scenario) and Giulio de Vita (drawing and colors). The first volume was released in In the ephemeral “Portal” collection of the Lombard.

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This is the very first series of the young screenwriter, followed closely in the same year by Ellis Group , made with Griffo at the same publisher.

The hooking in the back cover thus presents the plot: “It is the last of the jinns. Only one of his wishes could save us all! »»

A great lover of Neil Gaiman and the Urban Fantasy Current, Sébastien Latour reads and studies a lot of books of this kind before starting to write, at the beginning of 2000, role play stories for his friends. At that time, he was still a high school English teacher.

Determined, he sends them to several publishers; It is the Lombard which, the following week, is interested in its history with the aim of adding a new collection in its catalog – it will be “portal” – for which several designers of this house are asked. Gauthier van Meerbeeck offers three synopsis to Giulio de Vita, who has just abandoned the series James Healer . The latter reads them and chooses that of Wisher Before meeting Sébastien Latour twice in a Brussels restaurant, then dialogue with him via the Internet.

For the Italian designer, that’s good: no longer being able to claim the same notoriety as his writers, he wanted a young screenwriter with whom he could discuss ” at the same level ” [ first ] .

“Yes, the story I had at the base has really gained added value of these exchanges that we had together. And as we are both very demanding, we finally have a comic book in which there is almost nothing to throw away: in each scene, he and I have put the best of ourselves. It took sometimes a very long time and required long discussions, but after a while, we have always been able to put our ego aside so that the album does not reflect anything possible and the result is anyway the better possible. »»

– Sébastien Latour.

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Synopsis [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

When fairy tales push the portal of our reality …

For centuries, a powerful group that wants to be the defender of reality and rational humanity has hunted and mercilessly eliminates all the magical creatures. The survivors gathered in London under the protection of Merlin, but they are decimated and weakened. Their only hope would be to receive help from the most powerful of them, the jinns. Alas, the breed of the jinn has disappeared from the surface of the earth for a long time but, some people think that one would remain one …

Nigel, an attractive young crook, ignores everything about these issues. He continues to grant the wishes of his customers with an insolent success. The only downside: the crises of claustrophobia that hit him regularly. But who would not be a claustrophobic if he had spent a thousand years locked up in a lamp [ 2 ] ?

Characters [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  • Nigel Grant
  • Merlin
  • John Kalfield
  • Glee

Wink [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

To create the main character Nigel, Giulio de Vita sees him in playboy , scammer, crook, physically inspired by the British singer Robbie Williams who, like him, turns out “An attractive boy, but also a little clever” [ 3 ] … Which pleases the scriptwriter who, at the start, saw him as a foreign exchange agent obsessed with work and money. The project is advancing well, so well that the designer feels very comfortable with his new accomplice.

“It is the meeting of three things. First I wanted to write a story about a claustrophobic character, he would have been a claustrophobic because something was a prisoner in him. Then I saw again Aladin , the cartoon, and I wondered what a genius could do in our time. Then I passed the film Excalibur One of my classes to illustrate the Arthurian cycle, and I forgot how cool the character of Merlin was. So I had a djinn nowadays, who would meet Merlin. I wanted a story with a mythological and heroic dimension, at the Star Wars . So I built Wisher Around the hero’s path and all the elements began to take place. »»

– Sébastien Latour.

De Vita reads everything that Latour had written, cut and dialogued, and gives her friendly advice on the rhythm, on the characters, etc. Before the latter rewritten and revise the dialogues. He is very meticulous as to his work, leaving the designer the free choice on the decor and the look of the characters.

The first volume was finally born in : It is already very promising [not neutral] . For the screenwriter, Wisher is his first series and, for the two authors, their first successful collaboration to put to the credit of the editorial director of this new collection, Gauthier Van Meerbeck [ 4 ] . It is also the first series in the “Portal” collection of Lombard editions.

Long awaited, the second volume is in bookstores, the , with a huge success [Ref. necessary] . At the same time, the reissue of the first volume offers a new model, a new logo and a new cover; The drawings are re-colored by Emanuele Tenderini which has made the colors clearer. From there, the name of the collection no longer appears.

“I made the colors of the first version, with a fairly complicated technique: I made a first craft passage, in watercolor, followed by a computer retouching to give special effects etc. But in terms of printing, which was beautiful on screen worked at all! It was therefore decided to re-insulate everything using a simpler technique and above all easier to calibrate for printing. Of course, the first version is more artistic because it is more experimental … I wanted to give a cinematographic effect, already with framing, or management of atmosphere, but also with the special effects to be applied during coloring. »»

– Giulio de Vita [ 5 ] .

The third album of extravagant adventures of Nigel, entitled “Glee” comes out . The fourth volume “Melon and fairy cane” outgoing ” , ending the series [ 6 ] .

  • Wisher , Le Lombard (“Portal” collection for the first volume):
  1. Nigel , (ISBN  2-8036-2150-9 ) .
  2. Magical , (ISBN  978-2-8036-2291-7 ) .
  3. Glee , (ISBN  978-2-8036-2523-9 ) .
  4. Melon and fairy cane hat , (ISBN  978-2-8036-2663-2 ) .

Remarks on publications [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  • The first edition of volume 1 included a three -dimensional card representing the coverage
  • specially reserved for booksellers and the press, in , the album Nigel in black and white is drawn in 700 copies, under the name “beyond the portal”
  • On the occasion of the release of the second volume, the , a promotional pack includes the reissue of the first volume (whose cover is different and the boards are again colored by Emanuele Tenderini) with novelty.

external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  1. ↑ “Meeting with Sébastien Latour and Giulio de Vita, authors of the series Wisher » , on Sceneario ,
  2. ↑ « Wisher » , on The Lombard
  3. ↑ Didir Pasamonik , «Giulio de Vita: des Goblins Sur la Lagune» , on BD World ,
  4. ↑ Didir Pasamonik , “Wisher – T.1: Nigel – by Sébastien Latour and Giulio de Vita – Le Lombard” , on ACUBD ,
  5. ↑ Benoît Cassel , “Interview: Giulio De Vita” , on BD planet ,
  6. ↑ Charles-Louis Detournay , ‘ Wisher, T4: Melon hat and fairy cane – by Latour & de Vita – Le Lombard » , on Act BD ,

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